SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Coming off a breakout season that put him on the national radar, SDSU tight end Dallas Goedert entered this year in the spotlight as a preseason All-American and likely high NFL draft pick. But a series of nagging injuries, combined with inconsistent play from the rest of the Jackrabbit offense, has so far prevented Goedert from meeting expectations.

In Saturday’s 62-30 explosion vs. Missouri State, however, Goedert looked a lot like the 2016 version of himself.

Goedert caught eight passes for 170 yards and a back-breaking 42-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the second half. This after he had four catches for 120 yards in just the second half of last week’s loss to Northern Iowa. If there’s reason to believe the Jacks may be about to find a groove, the Britton Bomber is it.

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Watch highlights of SDSU Jackrabbits' win over Missouri State Bears on Oct. 21.

“There’s no question what a difference-maker he is when he’s healthy,” said teammate Mikey Daniel, who scored four touchdowns in the win Saturday. “It was good to have him back to making plays like we know he can.”

While Goedert’s health has slowed him down at times, so has the scheming of opposing defenses. Goedert was an all-conference player as a sophomore, when he caught 24 passes, but opponents were obviously unprepared for the level Goedert reached last year, when he caught an SDSU single-season record 92 passes for 1,293 yards. Coming into this season defenses were much more focused on slowing him down.

But Goedert still caught 11 passes for 132 yards in their week two win at Montana State, and Saturday at Plaster Stadium the Jacks got creative in getting their big tight end the ball. They used bubble screens, quick slants and seams down the middle to find him, and Goedert did what he does, making tough grabs in traffic, trucking defenders in the second level and using his speed to move the chains. He looked – and said that he felt – as healthy as he has all season, and if that remains the case he could be bound for more big games.

For the season, Goedert now has 33 catches for 587 yards – both team highs. He averages 17.8 yards per catch and 84 yards per game.

“He’s a great player, and our coaches did a great job of getting him the ball where he could utilize his strengths,” said head coach John Stiegelmeier. “He’s close to being fully healthy, but he’s still a pretty good bet even when he’s at 90 percent.”

Quarterback Taryn Christion finished with 14 completions for the second straight week, but on Saturday needed 16 fewer attempts to do it. The Jacks gameplan, at least early, was as conservative as it’s been this year as they focused heavily on establishing the run. But Christion made few if any dangerous throws and made good decisions when running the ball. He threw for 323 yards and ran for 59. He still missed a couple throws, but if last week’s struggles were in the junior’s head, he it appeared he got rid of them quickly.

“I don’t think Taryn ever really lacks confidence,” Goedert said when asked if the performance would give Christion a mental boost. “He didn’t play well last week, but we have all the faith in the world in him. He’s one of the best that’s ever played that position at SDSU. We know he’ll do his job each and every play.”

Big day for Cade

Special teams miscues played a huge role in SDSU digging itself a 17-0 hole in the loss to UNI, and while there were a couple more kicking game mistakes Saturday, redshirt freshman Cade Johnson made sure that special teams gave the Jacks an early spark. He returned the game’s opening kickoff 61 yards to the MSU 22-yard line, setting up a quick scoring drive to give SDSU a 6-0 lead.

Later, Johnson would take a shovel pass on an end-around from Christion for a 68-yard gain, and add his first career offensive touchdown when he took a pass in the flat from Christion and broke a tackle to fight his way into the end zone.

Injuries piling up

The Jacks were without outside linebacker Logan Backhaus, who will likely miss at least another week with an injury. True freshman Seven Wilson started in his place and had seven tackles.

Cornerback Anthony Washington was held out of the starting lineup for the second straight week in favor of Zy Mosley, though Washington did play later in the game. Safety Nick Farina was due to sit out the first half per college football rules after getting a targeting penalty in the second half of last week, and with Makiah Slade returning from suspension the Jacks just decided not to bring Farina on the trip.

Right guard Wes Genant went down with a leg injury early in Saturday’s game and did not return. The Jacks shuffled the lineup from there, moving left tackle Charlie Harmon to guard and inserting Evan Greeneway at tackle. Stiegelmeier credited the players for adapting to the changes, which may remain permanent until Genant’s return. The injury didn’t come at a good time, as Matt Clark, last year’s starter at right guard, was dismissed from the team last week. He’d been suspended the first six games of the year.

Avoiding laundry

The Jacks were penalized just twice for 15 yards against Missouri State. For the year, they've been flagged 30 times for 260 yards. That ties them with the Bears for fewest penalties in the conference (MSU's 30 flags have gone for 250 yards).

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